Słupsk, 4 August 1970.
District Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes in Warsaw
Świerczewskiego Street 127
In response to letter no. Ds. 86/67 OK dated 25 July 1970, Warsaw, in connection with the investigation of the execution carried out by the Nazis on 1 August 1944 on the square near the Orthodox church in Warsaw (in Praga), I can give the following details:
Witnesses:
Leopold Pacocha, son of Paweł and Anna, born on 10 November 1898 in Warsaw, residing at Stalowa 40, during the occupation a resident of Warsaw at Wileńska Street 5, flat 39; currently in Słupsk, at [...], employee of the MRN Presidium in Słupsk, Department of Budget and Economics, from 1945;
Franciszek Pacocha, son of Leopold and Karolina, born in Łochów, Łuniniec county (USSR) in 1926 (my son), during the occupation, residing with me in Warsaw at Wileńska Street 5, flat 39; currently in Słupsk, at [...], employed in Płatkarnia i Krochmalnie in Słupsk. Together with me, he was taken to bury 37 dead young people aged 22-24 near the church.
Those murdered came from the areas of Pinsk, Rivne, Luniniec and Minsk. I determined their origin from the ID cards that they had with them. Among them was a resident of Stalowa Street, who had a short firearm in his right pocket, which we didn’t remove, and he was buried with this weapon in a mass grave.
All IDs, photos and notes found on the dead were taken by a German officer and handed over to the Orthodox priest from the church who, during the burial, was present in the square accompanied by German officers and soldiers.
After completing the work connected with burying the corpses, the priest brought some spirits in a jar, and then poured it on our bloodstained hands, to wash off the blood.
Mr. Prosecutor, on the first day of the uprising, at 4:30 pm after dinner, in front of our gate at Wileńskiej Street 5, a German soldier was killed and then some train guards chased the killer from the direction of the railway towards the Orthodox church and opened fire. It is possible that the man who was killed and had with him a short firearm and who lived on Stalowa Street was the one whom they were chasing after. I don’t remember his last name. I only suppose that while he was trying to shake the pursuit, he hid in the building at the corner of Cyryla and Metodego Street, which was a transit point for taking young people to Germany. After a short while, some shooting started there, during which Mrs. Dąbrowska was killed in my apartment while she was looking out of the window. This shooting lasted for a long time, and it was from this I think that the people at this transit point were killed.
The corpses of these 37 people were lying in a heap on the pavement in front of this building. Each of the victims had an opening at the back of the head, from which I conclude that the individual victims had been shot in the back of the head. We buried them on 3 August 1944. It was a hot day, the corpses of the murdered victims smelled bad, and flies were swarming around where they bled.
I don’t remember the rest of the names of witnesses living in this building who took part in the burial of the victims. Stanisław Parapura, the concierge, who is currently retired and still living in the building at Wileńska Street 5, may be of some assistance.
I have written to him regarding this matter and I have received a reply that these people still live in this building. These are another four witnesses who can confirm the aforementioned facts pertaining to the crime committed.
Leopold Pacocha
[Attachment:]
A rough sketch indicating those murdered by the Germans on 1 August 1944 in Praga near the Orthodox church and buried on 3 August 1944 at 4:00 pm.